Chung's private funds exceed 60 billion won

Seoul District Prosecutor¡¯s Office investigating the loan scandal involving Dongbang Mutual Savings and Finance disclosed Wednesday that Chung Hyun-Joon, president of Korea Digital Line, created private funds totaling more than 60 billion won and invested in by over 600 subscribers.

The Seoul prosecution summoned and questioned the wife of one colleague of Chang Rae-Chan, a former official of the Financial Supervisory Service. Chang claimed in his suicide note that he delivered to her the profits gained from stock investments he had made at the request of his late colleague. Chung, who had been sought by police, was found dead Tuesday.

The prosecutors focused their inquiry on whether suspected subscribers to the funds who are politicians or public servants were bribed by Chung and Lee Kyong-Ja, vice chairman of Dongbang, into investing in the funds. They were reportedly looking into bribery and the use of borrowed names in opening the fund accounts, and said much time would be required to track down the many subscribers. The prosecution authorities stated that they have yet to find evidence that powerful politicians and ranking officials affiliated with the ruling party have invested in the funds, brushing aside rumors of their involvement.

The wife of Chang's former colleague was questioned about the verity of his suicide notes. Chang said in the notes that he gave her 700 million won, but the woman countered Chang's assertion, saying he used the amount to speculate in stocks in her name and she only had custody of the money temporarily. She denied having been given the money, according to prosecutors. Another old colleague of Chang whom Chang named in one of his notes as having received 5,000 shares of Pyungchang Information and Communication was not identified. Investigators assumed that he is working elsewhere now and promised to make his identity public when the current probe progressed further.

Pyungchang Information and Communication CEO Yu Jun-Geol will be called in again for further interrogation as to the contents of Chang's notes, according to the prosecution, and the president of Dongbang, believed to be hiding in the United States, is being persuaded to return to Korea.